97497: Adorning mosques and extravagance in building minarets and domes

I found out that it is sadaqah jaariyah (ongoing charity) to build a mosque, and I would like some clarification and guidance from you about this matter with regard to the following:
The correct, shar’i description of a mosque. The minarets and domes that we have seen recently in the construction of mosques – are they essential in the building of a mosque? Especially since the cost of building them in my country is as much as 15,000 Libyan dinars. Then with regard to the other parts of the mosque such as marble, high-quality doors, glass, high-quality furnishings, extra lighting, all the things that we usually see in mosques, all of that and similar things – what is the shar’i ruling on that? How should a mosque be built in the perfect shar’i manner? I need you to explain this fully to me.
May Allaah reward you with good for your unique efforts on this site which is my first and best choice every time and in every situation, because of the great goodness of the knowledge that I find in it.
May Allaah guide you to all that He loves and is pleased with.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

We thank you for your
thinking kindly of your brothers on this site and for getting in touch with
us. We ask Allaah to help us and you to do that which He loves and is
pleased with of acquiring beneficial knowledge and doing good deeds.

Secondly:

Building and furnishing
mosques for people to worship in is a good and righteous deed for which the
Lawgiver grants a great reward. It is a kind of sadaqah jaariyah which
continues to bring reward after one dies.

Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning):

“The mosques of Allaah
shall be maintained only by those who believe in Allaah and the Last Day;
perform As-Salaah (Iqaamat-as-Salaah), and give Zakaah and fear none but
Allaah. It is they who are on true guidance”

[al-Tawbah 9:18]

And the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever builds a mosque, Allaah
will build for him something like it in Paradise.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari
(450) and Muslim (533) from the hadeeth of ‘Uthmaan (may Allaah be pleased
with him).

And Ibn Majaah (738)
narrated from Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever builds a mosque
for the sake of Allaah, like a sparrow’s nest or even smaller, Allaah will
build for him a house in Paradise.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani.

The qataah
(translated here as sparrow) is a small bird, and its nest is the place
where it settles and lays its eggs. The qataah is singled out for
mention here because it does not lay its eggs in a tree or at the top of a
mountain, rather it makes its nest on the ground, unlike other birds; hence
it is likened to a mosque. See: Hayaat al-Hayawaan by al-Dumayri.

The scholars said: This is
mentioned by way of exaggeration, i.e., even if the mosque is as small as
that.

Thirdly:

There is nothing wrong with
building a dome on the mosque if it is for the purpose of letting in light
and air, or building minarets so that the muezzin’s voice may reach as far
as possible, or so that the mosque may be recognized from a distance and
worshippers may come to it, because the means come under the same rulings as
the ends. But that should be limited to whatever will serve the purpose,
without being extravagant. With regard to minarets, it is sufficient to
build them straight and tall, without any decoration or adornment, but if
the mosque is built without them, there is nothing wrong with that.

The scholars of the
Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked: Is it permissible to build
domes on mosques if that is for the purpose of letting in light and air?

They replied: We do not
know of there being anything wrong with that, if the matter is as mentioned
in the question. End quote.

Fataawa al-Lajnah
al-Daa’imah (6/246).

It also says (6/254): Some
people object to the building of minarets altogether and regard that as
contrary to the Sunnah and as a waste of money. Others respond by saying
that the minaret has become a symbol by which a mosque is recognized among a
mass of other tall buildings which block the view from a distance. The
mosque with its towering minarets makes many people feel that the Muslims
are still doing well in the face of the many challenges that they are
confronted with.

Answer: There is nothing
wrong with building minarets on the mosque, rather that is mustahabb because
it allows the voice of the muezzin to reach those who are being called to
prayer. This is indicated by the fact that Bilaal gave the call to prayer at
the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
from the rooftops of some of the houses that neighboured the mosque, and
there is consensus among Muslim scholars on this point. End quote.

Fourthly:

You should avoid
extravagance in the furnishings, doors and so on, for Allaah does not love
those who are extravagant. Al-Bukhaari entitled a chapter in his Saheeh:
“Chapter on the building of mosques; Abu Sa’eed said: The roof of the mosque
– i.e., the mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) – was made of palm branches. ‘Umar ordered that the mosque be
rebuilt and he said: Protect the people from rain, but beware of using red
or yellow (for adornment) and distracting the people. Anas said: They build
mosques about boast about that, but they do not use them for worship except
rarely. Ibn ‘Abbaas said: You are going toadorn (mosques) as the Jews and
Christians adorn (their places of worship). End quote.

Abu Dawood (448) narrated
that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: “I have not been commanded to build lofty
mosques.” Ibn ‘Abbaas said: You are going toadorn (mosques) as the Jews and
Christians adorn (their places of worship). This hadeeth was classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.